ARLINGTON — In front of the third consecutive sellout crowd of the weekend, the Rangers finally looked like the team from the playoffs last year.

That is, if the playoff game in question was Game 1 of the AL Championship Series.

Just in case you forgot: That game wasn’t one of the high points.

And Sunday’s 12-5 loss to the New York Yankees bore some eerie similarities. Just like they did on that October afternoon, the Rangers jumped out to an early 3-0 lead against CC Sabathia. Just like last October, they built the lead even bigger. And just like that day, the Rangers gave it all back, eventually succumbing to a catastrophic eighth-inning meltdown.

Last year, it was a five-run Yankees eighth. On Sunday, New York scored six runs in the eighth to put things away, only after first base umpire Andy Fletcher appeared to blow a routine call that gave the inning its legs.

It was ugly. Just like last October.

“Today was just one of those days,” manager Ron Washington said, and it really was his best attempt at an explanation.

Last October, though, the Rangers rallied less than 24 hours later to beat the Yankees. It proved to be pivotal in their drive to the AL pennant.

Is it too early to suggest the Rangers face a similar moment for the 2011 season now? Probably.

Especially for a team that is missing the reigning MVP (Josh Hamilton), another hitter capable of 30 homers (Nelson Cruz), the middle of its bullpen and a starting pitcher. There are plenty of reasons to think this club will finish strong, just like so many of those early 2000’s teams in Oakland when Washington was a coach.

Providing they don’t bury themselves before all those pieces get back.

With all those pieces out, the Rangers must be in survival mode. The loss to the Yankees showed a team that is slowly, but steadily, sinking. They have lost six of their last seven series — the seven series they’ve played since Josh Hamilton went out with a fractured bone in his arm.

On Sunday, the Yankees gave them all kinds of chances and the Rangers’ simply couldn’t make it add up to anything. New York committed four errors, including two in the first inning, and still won. Even the Yankees can’t be that benevolent and win. Their last win with four or more errors was in April 2007. And that game took 13 innings.

After the first, the Rangers acted almost as if they wanted nothing to do with runners who reached on errors. Example: In the fifth, Sabathia threw away a Mike Napoli grounder with two outs, and David Murphy reached on an infield single when nobody was covering first. The rally died just as quickly. Yorvit Torrealba, now 3-for-19 with runners in scoring position, dribbled a ball in front of home plate.

In the sixth, Julio Borbon reached on another Sabathia error with one out, then tagged up and went to second on Ian Kinsler’s deep fly to left. Borbon then tried to swipe third. He was thrown out — easily — to end the inning.

It was all the opening the Yankees needed. Arthur Rhodes, pitching on back-to-back days for the first time this season, started the seventh and gave up a game-tying jetstream-influenced homer to Derek Jeter on the second pitch of the inning. Two pitches later, Curtis Granderson added another homer to give the Yankees the lead.

And then came the eighth. With no lefties at his disposal, Washington turned to side-winding rookie right-hander Cody Eppley to face the bottom half of the Yankees’ chock-full-o’-lefties lineup. Eppley had retired the only seven lefties he’d faced in his major league career.

Nick Swisher led off with a grounder between the mound and first. Napoli fielded it and raced to the bag ahead of the runner, kicking it with his foot. Fletcher saw no kick and ruled the runner safe. Replays showed Napoli clearly kicking the bag and the base moving before the runner hit it. The Yankees poured it on with two more singles, a grand slam from No. 9 hitter Francisco Cervelli and a two-run homer by Mark Teixeira.

“It happens in the game,” Washington said of the missed call. “We’re not going to let something that happens in the course of the game be an excuse. If they had ruled him out — so what — it’s a three-run homer instead? What’s that make the score?”

Um, let’s see: Still ugly?

Catch Evan Grant all season on The Ticket (KTCK-AM 1310) at 9:35 a.m. Tuesdays with The Musers and 4:50 p.m. Wednesdays with The Hardline.

To post a comment, log into your chosen social network and then add your comment below. Your comments are subject to our Terms of Service and the privacy policy and terms of service of your social network. If you do not want to comment with a social network, please consider writing a letter to the editor.